Police fire tear gas to disperse crowd waiting for bread: The Standard

Zimbabwean police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd queuing for bread at a shopping mall near downtown Harare on Wednesday, as companies remained closed on the last day of a home-based strike against the government. higher fuel prices, said a Reuters witness.

A precarious calm has returned to the main cities of Zimbabwe.
Three people, including a policeman, died in violent protests on Monday in the capital Harare and in the second largest city of Bulawayo, where protesters looted shops and set fire to cars.
The country of southern Africa has experienced a serious shortage of dollars which has slowed imports of fuel and medicines and caused prices to rise.

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Zimbabweans accuse President Emmerson Mnangagwa of not honoring pre-election promises to revive growth and break radically with Robert Mugabe's 37-year rule, which was forced by a November 2017 coup d'etat.
Since then, Zimbabweans have found that the usual dollar deficits are weighing on the economy, causing a spike in inflation that is destroying the value of their savings and that the government is reacting vigorously to crush dissent.
In the center of Harare, shops, banks, fast-food chains and some government offices have been closed with little traffic on the roads. There was no public transport and you could see some people walking around the townships in the city center.
The government blamed the protests on key opposition and local rights groups, saying it was part of a plot to overthrow the Mnangagwa government.
"Ours is all about fuel. Our goal is to boost the price of basic fuel, health and food needs, "Kumbirai Magorimbo said while reading newspaper headlines in central Harare.

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Activist pastor Evan Mawarire, who led a national closure in 2016, told Reuters that police surrounded his home in a suburb of Harare after using Facebook posts to urge Zimbabweans to respond to the union's calls to stay. at their home.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the country's largest mobile operator, said its Internet services had been cut as a result of a government order.
"We are obliged to act as soon as we do it and the case is beyond our control," Econet said in a text message to customers, noting that all networks and providers had suspended their services.
Internet services were cut on Tuesday in the middle of the morning, leaving many people without access to social media platforms while the government accused the government of preventing the release of images of its heaviness through the world.
Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told reporters on Tuesday that she was unaware of the blackout.

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